new washer dryer combo or separates

[Designgeek]

DANGER!!! Re. propane bottles and gas dryers: There are some technical differences between appliances designed for gas from the public mains, and those designed for propane. Consult a qualified appliance service shop or licensed plumbing & heating contractor BEFORE you try ANYTHING involving gas. Mistakes can be DEADLY, including risk of axphyxiation, fire, and explosion. As far as I know, bottled propane is intended for outdoor use such as grills & barbequeues, not for indoor use. If a valve has a slight leak outdoors, the gas will blow away on the breeze. Indoors it could accumulate and ignite.

Personally I would no more have a bottle of propane indoors than I would keep a crate of dynamite under my living room table.

Re. stacked machines: see today's picture of the day, the GE portable compact. Very clever design for a stacking unit, where the dryer is actually on a shelf at a height that allows the washer to roll in underneath. The dryer stays up on the shelf, the washer can be rolled out to the sink and rolled back in under the dryer when done. This could probably be done with any stackable machines, whether the washer is a TL or an FL.

Re. Haier: I've heard variable reports, ranging from "lots of trouble and can't get parts" (for machines a couple of years ago), to much more positive reviews of their current ones. In all likelihood they had some initial problems when moving into the USA market, and have been working through them to where the quality has improved. If you're thinking of Haier, the best bet might be to go to a place that sells them and look over the floor/demo unit carefully, including plugging it in and running the agitator or pulsator, and the spin cycle, to see if it looks & sounds smooth when it runs, etc. etc.

Generally, most of the machines made in China are more lightly built than e.g. European models, so they should be treated more gently in service, in which case they will probably last a good many years.

 

[tolivac]

There are some forklift trucks whose engines run from propane-and sometimes these are run indoors-and-at the Food Lion out here-one night I stopped off there to get some breakfast goodies after my mid shift-and someone was polishing the floor with a buffer whose motor ran from propane-sounded like someone driving a motorcycle thru the store.In the case of both the forklift and buffer-the propane fuel has special additives in it to reduce the toxicity of the gas-but ventilation is still required. I used the forklift with the propane tank for power.also I have seen some "pack" style emerg gen sets for home use whose engine runs from a propane tank that you have to send out to be filled.In this case the genset sits outside the house.

 

[launderess]

Does This Answer Your Question?

Nicely built combo washer/dryer. Non tilting tub and can be made portable, but probably better off stationary.

Launderess

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[Designgeek]

Propane in large well-ventilated commercial and industrial spaces, can be safe. In the much smaller, more closed-off spaces in most apartments and houses, no way.

 

[kenmore1978]

Decision coming up

OK, after surveying the situation with my friend, here's the final criteria.

Must be compact
must be portable (on wheels)
must be a combo
reliable brand

price not an issue.

Whichever brand/model gets the most positive comments will be the one.

 

[foraloysius]

none!

 

[david]

Let me get this straight-

About combos sold here in the states. Why would anyone want a combo that uses 110-120v instead of 220-240v? I can't think of what one would be like other than having an extremely long drying time. If that's ok with the buyer of the machine then so be it. I would want something a little speeder.

I remember as a kid our old westinghouse could be configured for 120 or 240. But with 120 you could only use the low heat setting and air fluff. Has any of that changed now?

If these are some portable model or compact, I know that 220 is an impossiblity. But geez, I would keep on shopping until I found one that didn't take an eternity to wash and dry.

 

[mrb627]

LG?

What about the LG Combo?

MRB

 

[kenmore1978]

110/220

Yeah, we know it'll be slow, but he lives in a rented place, there's no laundry room, and 220 hookup is impossible. Most people who live in apartments have this situation, even with separate machines. He's not a laundry fan, he hangs out in front of his computer monitor all the time, so the long cycle times wouldn't really bother him. To him, a small price to pay to not have to pack everything up, go to the laundry, and hang out there, even though it would be for a shorter period of time than it will take him to do the laundry at home. And it won't be too bad since he won't let it build up to huge proportions like he does now trying to put off going to the laundry.

Anyway, pour on those recommendations

 

[westie2]

Have you looked into the Thor compact WD.

http://www.thorappliances.com/installation/portableInstall.php

 

[david]

That Thor's kinda cute

Hmmm. Is this company the Thor of old that we in this group are familiar with? The emblem did say since 1907, I guess so. But didn't they take a hiatus beginning in the late 50's until recently? Or were they owned by someone else and marketed overseas? I haven't seen anything of them in years until recently, just wondering what gives on em'?

 

[toggleswitch]

Here is a good resource from which to get ideas. Be forewarned their prices appear to be highway-robbery.

I had a comb-o-matic years ago(Made in Italy) that was very cool.Tiny capacity though.

Please pay-attention to whether it's a vented or condenser dryer. Also, my vented dryer did not have the capability of adding a dryer hose. Although it had a lint filter, the house would fill with moisture,heat and lint!

here is one compact brand (Supra)that claims to be the only 220v. compact combo unit made for N. America. Nice-- but basically facilitates a water heater. It seems that the dryer is still 120v and slow as S$%^!

BTW I loved my compact Kenmore portable washer with a "new improved" larger tub! Great if no or a separate dryer will do.

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compactappliance.com

 

[launderess]

Thor

No, this is not that "Thor", but the name slapped on Asian and maybe low end Euro front loaders. IIRC the man/company that sells Quietline washers is the one behind all this.

As for a compact front loader that is portable, I'd stick with toploaders. Front loaders really need to be on a firm and level surface. Stores selling those portability kits for front loaders should be lined up and shot. Our first front loader was a Malber, and we indeed purchased those danged wheels. After about a week or so of use, we had the company repair guy out and he stated just what I said. Of course having paid for the darn things I duly noted his advice and wanted to keep on using the washer as a portable. Two weeks later had him back to put the feets back on and attach extra long drain/fill hoses. We moved the washer off to a corner of the kitchen and it worked like a champ.